Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

There was a very good article today in the Athletic regarding the Amit Patel embezzling scheme. Patel spoke to the writer, Katie Strang, from his attorney's office last week. This article is worth reading for several reasons:

1. How could the organization not be aware that $22 million was being stolen by an employee? This total lack of financial oversight says a lot about the Jaguars' organization as a whole. This helps to answer questions we've all had about several mind-boggling decisions made by this organization. The one that tops my list is Gus Bradley getting a contract extension following a 3 year record of 12-36. The team was rewarded for their decision with Bradley leading the team to a 2-12 record the following season before getting fired. We all have our favorite team "blunders" but can we really be surprised Khan's organization failed to detect what was happening with Patel?

2. Patel's gambling addiction was thoroughly described by himself and the writer. It's hard to imagine anyone feeling sorry for Patel considering the fact he used much of the $22 million to fund a jet-set lifestyle which included fancy cars, expensive jewelry and a new condo, to name just 3. However, the article explains how gambling sights like Fanduel and Draftkings make it tantalizing for gamblers to continue betting despite having already lost huge sums of money. Gambling addiction has only become a greater problem with all the venues available. 

3. Will this embarrassing incident motivate Shad Khan to hire people to improve the oversight needed in many areas of the organization? If it does, I hope he starts with finding someone to oversee the scouting/draft process who has the power to make final draft decisions, especially if Baalke and Pederson disagree on a potential pick. Rick Spielman had apparently been considered for this role, but he is now with the Commanders. It's too late for this to happen before next month's draft, but the Jaguars cannot afford to repeat the failure of 2023.

22 mil in the grand scheme of an NFL franchise is like 22 hundred for a small business.

When the guy being trusted to manage money is the one mismanaging it... not that difficult to understand how it happened.

If it says anything about the franchise, it says that some execs on the business side made a poor decision to hire a man with a gambling problem to work in the teams finance department. And little else.

(03-18-2024, 11:34 AM)NYC4jags Wrote: [ -> ]22 mil in the grand scheme of an NFL franchise is like 22 hundred for a small business.

When the guy being trusted to manage money is the one mismanaging it... not that difficult to understand how it happened.

If it says anything about the franchise, it says that some execs on the business side made a poor decision to hire a man with a gambling problem to work in the teams finance department. And little else.

I think you're minimizing this too much.  Having this happen is a serious black eye for the people who are supposed to be managing the Jaguars' business operations.  No one should be given the ability to do what he did without it being detected way before it got to $22 million.  This is a serious lack of internal control.  

If you have somebody managing the money, then you need someone to watch the person who is managing the money.  Could be internal auditors, or external auditors.  Trust no one when it comes to money.

Dude should be put away for quite some time and then pay restitution to the Jags on every penny he earns until the Jags are paid back (or at min 20% of his pay for the rest of his life). People like this only look for their next victim once they're released.

(03-18-2024, 01:37 PM)HURRICANE!!! Wrote: [ -> ]Dude should be put away for quite some time and then pay restitution to the Jags on every penny he earns until the Jags are paid back (or at min 20% of his pay for the rest of his life).  People like this only look for their next victim once they're released.

The article indicated that when he gets out of prison in about 5 years, he'll be put on a payment plan of $250/month going to the Jaguars. How many years of paying $3000/yr will it take to get to $22 million? My calculator says slightly over 7300 years!

(03-18-2024, 02:14 PM)jaglou53 Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-18-2024, 01:37 PM)HURRICANE!!! Wrote: [ -> ]Dude should be put away for quite some time and then pay restitution to the Jags on every penny he earns until the Jags are paid back (or at min 20% of his pay for the rest of his life).  People like this only look for their next victim once they're released.

The article indicated that when he gets out of prison in about 5 years, he'll be put on a payment plan of $250/month going to the Jaguars. How many years of paying $3000/yr will it take to get to $22 million? My calculator says slightly over 7300 years!

If he gets mistreated in prison the civil suit might be able to take care of things in one fell swoop. We should hope that he gets a bone in his fish stick this Friday. Lent is nearly over, time is of the essence!

(03-18-2024, 11:34 AM)NYC4jags Wrote: [ -> ]22 mil in the grand scheme of an NFL franchise is like 22 hundred for a small business.

When the guy being trusted to manage money is the one mismanaging it... not that difficult to understand how it happened.

If it says anything about the franchise, it says that some execs on the business side made a poor decision to hire a man with a gambling problem to work in the teams finance department. And little else.

The Jags are worth $4 billion.  For your math to work, the average small business would have to worth $400,000.  That seems low.  This is a bigger deal than you think.

But remember Khan owns multiple franchises and businesses. Not saying it's ok but he's playing with monopoly money. Missing $22 million is easier to do that it seems.

(03-18-2024, 02:14 PM)jaglou53 Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-18-2024, 01:37 PM)HURRICANE!!! Wrote: [ -> ]Dude should be put away for quite some time and then pay restitution to the Jags on every penny he earns until the Jags are paid back (or at min 20% of his pay for the rest of his life).  People like this only look for their next victim once they're released.

The article indicated that when he gets out of prison in about 5 years, he'll be put on a payment plan of $250/month going to the Jaguars. How many years of paying $3000/yr will it take to get to $22 million? My calculator says slightly over 7300 years!

I've dealt with issues like this many times and there is always seizure of assets involved.  It's not like he's just going to pay $250/month, he'll have his bank accounts seized, properties, cars, etc. all taken away and sold to pay back the money that was stolen.

(03-18-2024, 07:16 PM)navyjagfan Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-18-2024, 02:14 PM)jaglou53 Wrote: [ -> ]The article indicated that when he gets out of prison in about 5 years, he'll be put on a payment plan of $250/month going to the Jaguars. How many years of paying $3000/yr will it take to get to $22 million? My calculator says slightly over 7300 years!

I've dealt with issues like this many times and there is always seizure of assets involved.  It's not like he's just going to pay $250/month, he'll have his bank accounts seized, properties, cars, etc. all taken away and sold to pay back the money that was stolen.

One thing forgotten about is the employee fidelity bond the Jags should have for this type event. I can't imagine any company not having that insurance. MY deductible was $10,000.  They will at a minimum make him pay that off at $250/month possibly more.